Fractured (Deep In Your Veins, #5)(78)

But it couldn’t. It was trapped inside Sam’s shield, just like everything and everyone else. Thankfully, the smoke did our internal organs no harm, though it was uncomfortable to inhale. My eyes, on the other hand, didn’t do so well against it; they stung and itched like crazy.

“I just spoke to Jared!” shouted Butch. “He said—”

A large wing snapped out and sent Butch, Paige, and I zooming backwards, soaring what felt like miles through the air. The breath whooshed out of me as I crashed into something hard—most likely a tree. Groaning and coughing, I got to my feet, utterly pissed. These winged bastards needed to die. I blinked rapidly as I glanced around, searching for Butch and Paige. I couldn’t see them through the smoke.

But I could smell Butch.

More specifically, I could smell his blood. A lot of it. The scent wafted over me, reached something inside me. I didn’t let myself think of how good it would taste; didn’t give in to the pull of the scent. Instead, I blocked it, just as I’d practiced with him in training.

“Butch! Paige!” I shouted as I followed the scent of his blood. But there was little chance that they’d hear me over all the roaring, snarling, screeching, and screaming.

Not allowing myself to panic, I called out their names over and over. Just as Butch’s scent became stronger, something long and spiked shot out of the smoke and swung at me—a f*cking barbed tail! Cursing, I ducked. But one of the spikes grazed my scalp and it hurt like a bitch. Quick as I could, I rolled toward Butch’s scent, pushed to my feet and—

Motherf*cker! The spiked tail darted out of the smoke and struck my chest, stabbing me hard just as it sent me flying several feet away. My head hit the ground with a crack that reverberated around my skull, and I almost blacked out.

Ears ringing, I blinked to clear the stars from my vision. I was gonna kill that bastard when I could see it. God, my chest hurt. I grit my teeth against the streaks of burning pain as, for the third freaking time, I awkwardly got to my feet. I needed to get to Butch, needed to ignore the pain and just hope I didn’t heal too slowly or—

A strong arm looped around me and began dragging me backwards. I would have struggled like crazy, except the unexpected scent made me freeze in surprise. “Marco, what the f*ck are you doing here?” He kept dragging me away. I twisted in his grip. “Let me go!”

“No, we need to get you out of here!” he growled into my ear.

“Let go of me, you bastard! I need to—”

Everyone brace yourf*ckingselves!

Before I could wonder at the panic in Jared’s warning, I felt the buzz of Sam’s energy leave the air. Her shield winked out. Oh, shit.

As the smoke began to clear, I watched as three dragons shot high into the air. Or, at least, they tried. One screeched as it was hit by a telekinetic blast that sent it crashing somewhere. The second shook as sparks of high-voltage electricity assailed every inch of its huge body. The third halted as a silvery-blue energy whip lashed out of the smoke and wrapped tight around its throat, yanking it back down.

They weren’t the only ones that tried to flee. They might have succeeded, but the problem for them was that since Sam no longer had to concentrate on keeping her shield in place, she could use her gift in other ways—ways that were causing the dragons to hit the ground.

“Hurry before he comes for her!” Marco shouted to a vampire on his right. That was when I saw a large, swirling portal. I’d be damned if I let Marco take me anywhere.

I kicked and punched at him, but all the struggling in the world didn’t make him release me. “Put me down, you f*cking bastard!” I thrust my psychic hand into his mind, but it was tired and half-numb; flicking his blood-bond to his Sire did nothing more than make him wince.

“Imani, enough! We’re leaving now!”

“I’m not going anywhere!” I was about to telepathically call out to Jared when Marco sharply turned me in his arms, making my head spin. I’d sustained too many head injuries tonight.

“I’m not here to hurt you. I told him to keep you safe, and he didn’t!”

I realised he was talking about Butch. “He’s hurt, I need to—”

“What we need is to get you to safety!” Ignoring my struggles, Marco carried me toward the portal—a portal that abruptly closed as the vampire controlling it hit the ground with a thud.

“Let. Her. Go.”

Stilling in surprise at the familiar male voice, I looked over Marco’s shoulder. It wasn’t so hard to see now that the rain was putting out the fire and Sam had taken down her shield, allowing a lot of the smoke to clear. And there was Lazarus with a small group gathered behind him. I blinked. “What are you doing here?”

“We teleported to you so we could partake in the battle,” he replied. “My vampires are joining it as we speak. Marco, release her.”

Marco’s arms slowly slipped from around me and he turned to face Lazarus. No, he positioned himself between me and Lazarus. Like a protective barrier. Marco’s vampires flanked me, glaring at those that stood with Lazarus.

The Master Vampire held out his hand, a sense of urgency in his manner. “Now come along, Imani. You should not be part of this. Not when you are half-human.”

I would have pointed out that I actually wasn’t half-human, but this whole scenario felt distinctly wrong. “Marco, what’s going on?”